•The Senator said that he tactically avoided falling into the trap laid by Nyong'o's camp.
•The crowd also demanded to be addressed by radio personality Felix Odiwuor popularly known as Jalan’go.
Image: DICKENS WASONGA
Kisumu Senator Fred Outa was on Friday heckled during the Azimio rally in Kisumu in the presence of ODM leader Raila Odinga.
The senator who was amongst the guests invited to speak at the rally was forced to cut short his speech as the jeers by the hostile audience drowned out his speech.
The crowd also demanded to be addressed by radio personality Felix Odiwuor popularly known as Jalang'o.
Suna East MP Junet Mohammed was forced to briefly interrupt the speech of Alego-Usonga MP Samuel Atandi, who was on the podium to allow the comedian to speak.
Jalang'o is eyeing the Langata parliamentary seat in Nairobi county.
Outa fell out with governor Anyang' Nyong’o whom he campaigned for in 2017. The two politicians went their separate ways soon after the last general elections.
It remains unclear what could have led to the fallout, with claims that the governor reneged on a pre-election pact with the senator to share power.
The senator has since teamed up with former East African Community Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Ken Obura to face Nyong’o in the ODM primaries slated for April. On Saturday, Outa blamed governor Nyong’o for the heckling.
Image: DICKENS WASONGA
The senator claimed that a member of the county assembly allied to the governor was behind the incident.
“I have credible information that the MCA hired goons from Kondele, Obunga and Manyatta to heckle me,” he said.
“The governor’s camp had embarked on a smear campaign that included spreading propaganda that I was planning to disrupt the rally days to the event,” he said.
The scheme, he said, was to isolate him from the ODM leader Raila Odinga and make him look unpopular.
The MCA whose name won’t be revealed for legal reasons wasn’t available for comment over these claims.
He didn’t answer our calls nor did he respond to text messages when we tried to reach him for a comment.
“Raila called me about the issue before the rally happened and I explained to him that it was a political scheme by my detractors to make me look bad and unwanted,” Outa told the Star on Saturday.
The Senator said that he tactically avoided falling into the trap laid by Nyong'o's camp.
“If I wanted to engage them in the war of supremacy then I don’t think they could have won. I decided not to go that route because of the peace and respect I have for Raila. I could not let anyone disrupt his meeting,” he said.
Outa said he will not be seeking the ODM party ticket but promised to be in the race against Nyong’o.
“Let him face Obura in the primaries. That’s the person he should direct his energy to right now because they’re the ones competing for the ODM ticket. However, he will meet me after the nominations,” he said.
But the governor’s press secretary Aloice Ager dismissed the senator’s claims as baseless.
Ager said Nyong’o had nothing to do with the Friday incident, explaining that the rally was organized by the Azimio regional office and wasn't a Kisumu county affair.
“Outa has been absent in most of the engagements involving ODM party leader since March 2018 handshake. He skipped even the launch of key projects by Raila and people were observing his moves,” he said.
“He was conspicuously missing when the ODM leaders were mobilizing people to register as voters. He is answering for those sins because ODM supporters took note of his behaviour. He can’t blame the governor for his woes,” he said.